Ryan Giggs has been named in court for the first time as the Premier League footballer behind a high-profile injunction against the Sun.

The Manchester United and former Wales player agreed to lift the anonymity injunction in a hearing at the high court in London on Tuesday.

Giggs brought the injunction in April last year to prevent the Sun from publishing claims that he had an extra-marital affair with the model and former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.

But the gagging order was flouted by thousands of people who identified the footballer on Twitter and Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who used parliamentary privilege to name him in the House of Commons.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, counsel for Giggs, told the court that the footballer had been subject to "large scale breaches of the order by malign individuals".

"The claimant's name is in the public domain contrary to court orders," he added. "The claimant has consented to the removal of the anonymity order completely."

Mr Justice Tugendhat said: "Anonymity no longer applies and has not applied since 1 February."

Tugendhat is considering a claim by Giggs for damages for alleged misuse of private information by the Sun.

The footballer also seeks an injunction to restrain future publication of private information.

The court heard that the anonymity order that prevented the media from naming Giggs was lifted on 1 February. However, an "administrative error" by Giggs's solicitors meant the Sun was not informed.

Tomlinson told the court on Tuesday that Giggs had "suffered damage and distress" due to claims of an extra-marital affair.

Richard Spearman QC, counsel for News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun, told the court that Giggs's damages and injunction claim was "dead in the water" and should be thrown out.

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